AN ELDERLY jogger from Stinchcombe paints a grisly picture after she was smashed into by a speeding road cyclist on Saturday.

Jill Holloway, 74, suffered severe facial injuries, including splitting her top lip in half, after she hit the floor following the collision on Church Lane in the village.

After managing to pick herself up, blood pouring from her face, a passing good Samaritan stopped and drove her straight to Vale Community Hospital in Dursley.

There she was patched up but had to be transferred to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital to receive specialist treatment for face, including stitching to both the inside and outside of her mouth.

The former Rednock School maths teacher was enjoying her regular morning jog on the road at around 8.30am, wearing a high visibility jacket, when the road cyclist failed to spot her in time after coming fast down a hill.

Her husband Russ Holloway, a former dentist, told the Gazette that she does not remember much about the incident, including whether the cyclist was able to help her or had been injured himself in the crash.

“As she was jogging round the lane somebody came down the hill at a far lick and the next thing she knew she knew she was face down on the road,” he said.

“She remembered picking herself up off the floor and feeling for her teeth. She found they were alright but blood was pouring off of her face.”

Mrs Holloway, who is now resting at her home on Echo Lane, said she wants to find out the identity of the young man who took her to hospital to thank him and to piece together what happened.

“My injuries are still very sore and very limiting, different parts of my body start aching at different times,” she said.

“It’s sad really. I have always been very careful on that road. I always wear my high visibility jacket. It is hard to believe I wasn’t being careful on Saturday.

“They do come down at a heck of a speed. They think they are coming down a hill in the Tour De France. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Mr Holloway, 76, said that the accident had been coming, as the route is popular with road cyclists at the weekend, and has requested his wife does not jog on the lane anymore.

“It is a worry,” he said.

“The majority of them are fine and keep out of your way but others keep their head down and do not look at where they are going.”

kjag23 wrote:
If this was a hit and run with a car there'd be outcry and enormous media coverage.

If this was hit and run with a car it wouldn't even get a mention in the press. She didn't die so they don't care. The reason it's mentioned is that it was a cyclist - if one cyclist steps out of line the press are on them instantly. Cars break speed limits constantly all day and every day and are far more dangerous but for some unfathomable reason this appears to be socially acceptable.

[quote][p][bold]kjag23[/bold] wrote:
If this was a hit and run with a car there'd be outcry and enormous media coverage.[/p][/quote]If this was hit and run with a car it wouldn't even get a mention in the press. She didn't die so they don't care. The reason it's mentioned is that it was a cyclist - if one cyclist steps out of line the press are on them instantly. Cars break speed limits constantly all day and every day and are far more dangerous but for some unfathomable reason this appears to be socially acceptable.BigBoy22